ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, will deliver twelve 703 tonne transformers to Kuwait. The transformers, manufactured in ABB’s factory in Bad Honnef, Germany, will be installed at three 400 kilovolt (kV) substations built by ABB in Sulaibiyah, Fintas and Jabriya as part of a $400 million contract awarded by the country’s Ministry of Energy and Water March last year.

Four out of 12 transformers are intended for the Sulaibiyah substation, four will be installed at the Jabriya substation and the remaining four will be used at the Fintas substation. Five of the transformers have already been delivered and installed; the remaining seven will be delivered and installed at the end of the year.

Travelling by road at five kilometres per hour, the transformers are one of the largest produced by ABB and operate at 750MVA with voltage levels of 400/300/33kV.

“The size of these transformers means that they’re the largest in the Middle East,” said Mohammed Masri, Sub Regions Division Manager, Power Products, Middle East and Africa, ABB. “We had to transport these transformers at night to avoid any traffic congestion during the operation. Each of these transformers weights almost as two fully loaded Boeing 747 before take off.”

Once completed, the three substations at Sulaibiyah, Fintas and Jabriya will be the back bone for the new 400kV voltage network which will transmit an additional 1500 megawatts of power from the Subiya Power Station presently under construction. ABB will design, supply, install, test and commission the substations, which will increase transmission voltage from 300 kV to 400 kV. The higher voltage will help strengthen the grid's reliability and increase its capacity to meet rising demand for electricity and connect the Kuwaiti electricity network to the Gulf Interconnection Grid.